NEW YORK — This was the moment Mets fans had been anticipating and Yankees fans had been dreading.
Juan Soto stepped into the box in the bottom of the first inning Friday with a chance to stop the Yankees’ momentum and start the party at Citi Field. In the top of the frame, Yankees outfielders Jasson Dominguez and Aaron Judge had crushed back-to-back home runs and put the Mets in a two-run hole. But Soto could erase his former team’s lead with one swing.
“Flip one out of here and this place will go nuts,” Ron Darling said on the SNY broadcast.
He was onto something.
(Photo by Evan Yu/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
A moment later, Soto punished Marcus Stroman’s mistake — an 89-mph cutter, up and away and right where Soto likes it — and drove it to left field for a game-tying two-run home run. The crowd erupted and gave Soto a standing ovation, witnessing Game 1 of a Subway Series that was already oozing with intensity even though there were eight more innings to go.
The fireworks came early on the Fourth of July, and Soto’s team-leading 21st home run was just the beginning. The fuse was lit all afternoon as the crosstown rivals battled in a back-and-forth affair until Jeff McNeil delivered the final blow: a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning that brought the house down. The Amazins’ injury-ridden and overtaxed pitching staff pieced together 27 outs and Soto’s Mets toppled the Yankees in a 6-5 win at Citi Field.
“I just feel good right now,” said Soto, who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the opening salvo. “I’m seeing the ball really well. I’m trying to take my chances. When I swing the bat, I’m trying to do damage every time.”
The Yankees suffered their fifth consecutive loss, and it had to sting a little more when Soto, the one that got away, was the slugger who flipped the script in the first inning.
“He’s one of the best for a reason,” Stroman said. “He’s extremely locked in right now. He’s all over everything, so he’s just an incredibly hard at-bat.”
Seven months ago, Soto walked away from the Yankees and signed the richest contract in professional sports history with the Mets. In doing so, he revitalized a crosstown rivalry that hadn’t seen a brand-name player switch sides since the days of Doc Gooden and David Cone in the 1990s. But Soto’s decision to leave the Bronx was much bigger than either of those instances.
It was unprecedented for a generational hitter to choose, in free agency, to spend the rest of his career playing for the less-successful New York franchise, instead of securing an enduring legacy in pinstripes that would’ve saved him a spot in Monument Park. After taking the Bronx Bombers to the World Series for the first time in 15 years, Soto delivered Yankees fans the type of chronic pain that will recur annually — every Subway Series, to be exact. Consider his electric performance on Friday afternoon just the first of many more instances to come.
“He had a great day,” McNeil said of Soto. “Huge home run. That’s just who he is. It’s fun to watch, and I feel like every time he comes to the plate he’s going to do something cool.”
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Back in December, once the shock wore off from hearing the details of Soto’s contract — he’s set to earn a mind-boggling $765 million across 15 years — every baseball head in the city wanted to know one thing: when is the next Subway Series?
Instead of Soto and Judge creating one of the most feared duos in baseball history, the two powerhouse hitters became instant rivals, certain to put on a show for many years to come. Unlike Judge, who made it clear he was the favorite to win the American League MVP as early as April, it took a couple of months for Soto to heat up.
The Bronx’s newest and most hated villain, Soto was greeted with ferocious, nonstop boos when the Yankees hosted the Mets in May. But, rather than loud contact off of Soto’s bat, all the noise came from the stands. The Mets right fielder went 1-for-10 at the plate in his first three games at Yankee Stadium as a Met as his early-season struggles continued. A couple of months ago, the advanced metrics suggested Soto was one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball. If he kept following the same approach and continued hitting the ball on the barrel, the results would come.
In a torrid June, Soto batted .322 with a 1.196 OPS, 11 home runs, 20 RBI and 26 walks across 27 games. Not only did he have much better luck — and results — when the Mets hosted the Yankees at Citi Field on Friday, but Soto looked unbeatable at the plate.
“It’s pretty special because every time he’s at the plate, you feel good about your chances,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Soto. “And when we got guys that are getting on base and we’re turning the lineup over and getting him at the plate as many times, when he’s going like that, it’s a pretty special feeling. We’re kind of like, let’s keep the line moving, let’s get him at the plate. And just with how easy he’s doing it … he’s locked in.
“It’s what you expect out of games like this. Subway Series, packed house, fan base is intense, going after each other. I’m glad we got the job done today.”
Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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